Shouldn't we suppose that many of our most painful ordeals will look quite different a million years from now, as we recall them on the New Earth? What if one day we discover that God has wasted nothing in our life on Earth? What if we see that every agony was part of giving birth to an eternal joy?

This is one of the great paradoxes of suffering. Those who don't suffer much think suffering should keep people from God, while many who suffer a great deal turn to God, not from him.

God is grooming us for leadership. He's watching to see how we demonstrate our faithfulness. He does that through his apprenticeship program, one that prepares us for Heaven. Christ is not simply preparing a place for us; he is preparing us for that place.

From beginning to end, Scripture repeatedly emphasizes God's ownership of everything: "To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it" .When I grasp that I'm a steward, not an owner, it totally changes my perspective.

You can't take it with you - but you can send it on ahead.

Many [Western Christians] habitually think and act as if there is no eternity. . . . We major in the momentary and minor in the momentous.

Don't forget that the most effective form of child abuse is giving a child everything they want.